Page 53 of King of Flesh and Bone

Enosh carried me through the wooden archway, the building only big enough to hold two short pews and a small pedestal before a simple sun made of metal, nailed to the brick behind.

And as he carried me, plumes of smoke danced around me. They brushed my skin, tingled my neck until, surging toward me, they manifested as feathers in all shades of blue. Traces of green weaved through them, almost like in the shape of eyes, depending on how the low-hanging sun filtered in.

It was… beautiful beyond words.

When my feet reached the ground, Enosh clasped my waist tightly to keep me from falling. “You will begin now.”

Father Leofric hurried up the pedestal, his eyes flicking between the gown and Enosh, the wordwitchcrafton his trembling lips, but he kept it to himself. “Kneel before Helfa.”

“I kneel before no mortal,” Enosh scoffed, “and certainly not before the faithless figments of man’s feeble mind. And my wife cannot kneel for I twisted her legs. Begin the ceremony!”

Father Leofric’s face wrinkled up, but he spared me no more but a sideways glance before he nodded. “Very well. Your names?”

My throat tightened. “Adelaide.”

“Enosh.”

“Enosh,” the old man mumbled as his shaky fingers clasped a nearby quill, pulling it from the inkwell before he scribbled into the book of bindings. “We will recite the vows before God. Adelaide, speak after me.”

But I knew the vow by heart. “I, Adelaide, take thee, Enosh, to be my wedded husband, to serve and to obey from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, for eternity, and thereto, I plight thee my troth.”

Everything stilled around us as I gave away my vow, and with it, myself in every sense of the word—my body for him to have, my life for him to hold for eternity.

Father Leofric gave a curt nod. “Now you, Enosh.”

Hands clasped around my waist, the god repeated the vow with no hesitation. “I, Enosh, take thee, Adelaide, to be my wedded wife, to command and to protect from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to… to…”

When Enosh stalled, Father Leofric cleared his throat and repeated the last part, “To love and to cherish, for eternity, and thereto, I plight thee my troth.”

A whirlwind of emotions swirled in the depths of Enosh’s gray eyes as he cupped my cheek. “I shall cherish you for eternity and give you all of what I have. Except for my heart, for we both know I have none to give.”

My stupid stomach sunk slightly as though I could possibly feel rejected by a man I didn’t want. Perhaps because Enosh had a heart, as much as it disturbed me to admit it—one filled with rage and grief, but not as black and hateful as I’d first accused.

Father Leofric stood flabbergasted for a moment, but eventually nodded. “Very well. In the name of Helfa the Allfather, I hereby pronounce you husband and wife.”

Enosh went out of his way and dipped his head ever so slightly. “Mmm, priest, what a dreadful circumstance for you that I have just vowed to protect my wife.”

Warm droplets splattered my face.

My eyes clenched shut on instinct, but I didn’t need to see to know that Father Leofric was no more. I wiped a hand over my face, pressing my lips together to seal away the taste of iron. When I blinked my eyes open again, the old man bled out by my feet from a bone spike in his throat, his mouth gaping like a fish out of water.

As I stared down at the dying man, a question pounded to life at the back of my mind. If Enosh had decimated an entire realm for his companion, what would become of the world if something ever happened to his wife?

Chapter16

Ada

Aday later, I woke in Enosh’s arms. Not an uncommon occurrence, except for the fact that the god himself was asleep.

Dark fans of his lashes lowered, chest rising and falling at an even pace, lips slightly parted… During all my time at the Pale Court, not once had I witnessed him asleep.

Why now?

Propping myself onto my elbow, I let my finger stroke a raven strand from the god’s face. Myhusband’sface. I’d touched him many times, but had I ever truly felt him? How his hair refused to part a certain way as I stroked through it? How soft it was toward the ends, which spread out over his brawny chest? How his skin pebbled beneath my touch, tiny bumps spreading across—

His fingers wrapped around my wrist just as his eyes sprung open. “What are you doing, little one?”

Yes, just what was I doing? “Touching you.”

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